


Friends and Family

by WayWardWonderer



Category: Mystery Science Theater 3000
Genre: Family, Gen, Hurt, Wounded, dying, friends - Freeform, injured, sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 05:55:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12474928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WayWardWonderer/pseuds/WayWardWonderer
Summary: Sequel to: 'Mystery Science Theatre 3000: A New (Not-Too-Distant) Future'. After a few months of bonding and forming failed escape plans, a freak accident aboard the Satellite of Love seriously injures Joel Robinson and Mike Nelson must save his new friend. Crow and Tom Servo try to deal with the bleak situation, but they don't respect Mike like they do Joel. Yet. (MST3k)





	Friends and Family

Takes place after the events of: 'Mystery Science Theater 3000: A New (Not-Too-Distant) Future'.

It was only a month after Joel Robinson, Crow T. Robot, Tom Servo, Gypsy and even Cambot were unexpectedly summoned as character witnesses to an unusual trial (somewhere lost in time and space), and saved the life of the defendant; Michael J. Nelson.

The two humans, now both the subject of a bizarre movie watching experiment at the hands of the evil Dr. Forrester, became fast friends.

Joel, a father figure to the robots and overall smartass, welcomed the company of Mike; a surrogate big brother to the robots and a well spoken, good humored goofball.

Having another human being onboard the ship boosted Joel's morale, while it gave the robots a fresh look at what human interaction was really all about.

The unorthodox family of two humans and four robots was truly one of a kind.

Things were finally looking up for the marooned crew aboard the 'Satellite of Love', but you always have to take the good with the bad. And 'bad' was something that seemed absolutely synonymous with space travel.

What could possible go wrong?

A lot. Always, a lot.

Always.

Forever.

* * *

 

Joel Robinson was laying on his back on the floor on Deck 14. Propped up above him was the single occupant emergency escape pod 'Deus ex Machina'. The precious vehicle was in the process of being modified.

It was the same escape pod that Mike Nelson had uncovered while working as a temp under Dr. Forrester in Deep 13.

Unfortunately the unavoidable trial of 'Mike v the Universe' made it impossible for Mike to relay the message to Gypsy or Joel, or anyone else. But as it turned out the failure to communicate then was going to pay off now.

"Screwdriver." Joel held out his hand as he asked for the requested tool.

"Screwdriver." Mike confirmed as he placed the tool in Joel's outstretched hand.

"Monkey wrench."

"Monkey wrench."

"Hand."

"Hand." Mike grabbed onto Joel's hand pulled his new, creative, inventor, Gizmocrat, laidback friend to his feet. "So, how's it looking?"

"Pretty good." Joel turned to admire his work. "Just a few more modifications and it'll be able to carry all six of us back to Earth."

"Man, how long has it been?"

Joel was wiping his greasy hands on an old white rag, grease spots marred his seldom worn teal jumpsuit. "Since what? Since you've been here or since I've been here?" He asked with a smile.

"Both."

"Well, if my math is correct you've been up here for almost six months. And I've been up here for almost six years."

"Six years?"

Joel nodded casually.

"Man, how do you stand it?"

"The bots help. A lot. They keep things interesting and they gave me someone to talk with. Not to mention the nice library tucked away on the eighth deck."

"Don't you miss your family? You never talk about them."

"Neither do you." Joel commented quickly.

"Touché."

"Anyway," Joel changed the subject. "we should be out of here in maybe three weeks. After I reinstall the heat shield, all I'll have to do is modify the oxygen tank to give us an ample air supply to make the successful re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere."

"I'm so glad you're up here." Mike almost gushed. "There's no way I'd be able to do anything this complicated. At least be able to do something so complicated RIGHT, anyway."

"'Correctly'." Joel teased playfully.

"Yeah, yeah. 'Correctly'." Mike put his hand on Joel's shoulder. "So, should we see that the bots are up to?"

"Yeah, I don't like it when they're quiet for so long."

"Are they really that bad?"

"Sometimes." Joel tossed the dirty rag onto the tool bench as he and Mike passed it by. "Once they filled my pillow with pudding and tied Gypsy into a huge knot down in engineering."

"They did not." Mike laughed at the very idea.

"Did so. Ask Gypsy to show you the scar."

"Scar? A robot can scar?"

"I had to cut her apart and solder her back together! Poor thing..."

The two humans, one blonde and in a green jumpsuit, the other a brunette in a teal jumpsuit, walked onto the bridge of the ship and stopped fast. Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo had completely filled the bridge of the ship with large, neon orange racing track and were preparing to take off from the starting line. The starting line located near the ceiling of the ship, about twelve feet in the air.

"Crow! Servo!" Joel called for his two robots. "What in the blazes are you two doing up there?"

Crow yelled down at Joel. "Racing! What does it look like?"

Mike replied casually. "Suicide."

"Mike's right!" Joel agreed with his calm, decisive, patient, good humored friend. "You're going to kill yourselves, get down here now!"

"'Correct'." Mike quipped at Joel.

Joel gave Mike an amused smile. "Yeah, 'correct'."

"Okay!" Crow yelled again. "Here we come!"

"NO!" Joel shouted concernedly at the incoming robots. "Not THAT way!"

"TOO LATE!" Crow blurted as he went flying down the track past Joel and Mike at a dangerously high speed.

In a gold blur the sarcastic bot when rocketing down the track and went flying off the track, crashing against the wall.

"Oooooh!" Joel and Mike commented sympathetically as they looked at Crow's mangled body laying on the floor.

Mike grimaced a little. "I'll get him."

From above Tom started yelling out in excitement and fear as he came flying down the track just as fast as Crow. This time Joel was ready and he grabbed ahold of the rocketing red robot before he suffered the same fate as Crow. "Gotcha'!"

"Aww!" Tom whined. "Whatcha' do that for?"

"Because I love you." Joel replied dryly. "And I have enough to do without having to repair you two 'knuckle-knobs'."

Mike had cleared away some of the orange track as he made his way over to Crow. "Crow buddy, you okay?"

"No..." Crow admitted. "That hurt..."

"Well, now you know better." Mike tried to look on the bright side as he picked up Crow's dislocated arm. "Here. Let me help."

Joel put Tom on the floor next to Crow. "I want you two to clean up this mess and then you have to go to bed."

"Aww..." Tom and Crow whined in unison.

Mike was still greatly amused by how childlike and innocent the bots acted and how much Joel was like a father to them. "I'll help, alright?" Mike volunteered as he popped Crow's arm back in its place.

"Yeah sure..." Crow agreed as he sat up and checked his damaged arm.

"Fine." Servo didn't sound impressed.

Joel shook his head. "Great, thanks Mike. When you're done I could use your help back on Deck 14. I'd like to finish installing the heat shielding tonight."

"No problem. See you in a few minutes."

As Joel walked down the corridor he passed by Gypsy. "Hey Gypsy."

"Hi Joel." She made her way over to Mike. "Hi Mike."

"Hi Gypsy."

"Just so you know there's a meteor shower heading our way."

"Meteor shower?" Mike gathered up a large bundle of the toy track in his arms. "Are those common?"

"Not really." Gypsy followed as Mike proceeded to put the tracks back into Servo's cabin down the opposite corridor. "But we do have a storm shelter in case things get rough."

"Thanks for letting me know. I'll tell Joel." He patted Gypsy's nose. "And you two," he focused on Crow and Tom. "bedtime."

Crow snarled at Mike. "You're not my real father!"

"No, but I'm-" The sound of hail striking a tin roof filled the deck. "Gypsy, what's the noise?"

"The meteor shower!" She shouted.

The entire Satellite of Love was rocked back and forth violently as the meteors of various sizes and speeds bombarded the lone orbiting craft.

Mike fell to the floor, bumping his head hard on the corner of the desk just before he hit the floor.

Gypsy, Servo and Crow all panicked as their world spun upside down and inside out. The lights flickered for a moment before blacking out entirely. The shaking finally stopped and Crow sat up slowly.

"Is everyone okay?"

Servo coughed as small particles of loose dust metal rained down on the bridge. "I'm fine."

"Cambot?" Crow looked at the orb shaped camera who had managed to avoid getting rocked thanks to his hovering.

Cambot nodded his whole body to signal 'yes'.

"Gypsy?"

"I'm okay." She lifted her large purple head up from the dropped cables that fell from the ceiling.

"Mike?"

No response.

"I said, 'Mike'?" Crow repeated.

Gypsy answered for him. "No." She was leaning over Mike.

Mike was laying face down, unconscious on the floor of the bridge. Loosened wires, pipes and metallic dust flakes covered his sprawled body. The four robots curiously gathered around the unconscious green bejumpsuited human on the floor, unsure of what to do.

The power was knocked out. The bridge was dark save for Gypsy's flashlight eye and the emergency red lights on the bridge.

Crow used his clawed hand to poke Mike in his ribs. "Is he dead?"

Tom leaned down and pressed his dome against Mike's back and listened. "Nope, he's still breathing."

"C'mon." Gypsy spoke up. "Help me turn him over!"

Using his claws Crow grabbed Mike's arm and started pulling the human toward himself while Gypsy put her nose under Mike's chest to help turn him over onto his back. Gypsy coiled up her body and let Mike's head rest against her 'lap'.

"Gross!" Crow blurted and pointed. "He's bleeding!"

A descent sized cut above Mike's right eye was seeping a single trail of blood that rolled down the side of his face. It dripped down and stained the collar of his green jumpsuit.

"Eww..." Tom remarked as he hovered back away from the downed human. "Make him stop!"

"Crow, Servo!" Gypsy scolded. "We have to help him."

Crow and Tom looked at each other confused. "How?"

"I don't know... What would Joel do?"

"Good idea!" Crow started climbing over the fallen debris on the floor toward the blocked door. "I'll go find Joel."

Gypsy grabbed ahold of Crow with her coil body. "No you won't! Stay here, we shouldn't split up."

Mike let out a small cough as the falling dust started to irritate his breathing.

"Mike?" Gypsy tried to get a response. "Can you hear me?"

"Gypsy?" Mike opened his blurry blue eyes and struggled to gain his bearings. It was too dark to see and his head was hurting. "Why is it so dark?"

"The meteor shower knocked out the power."

Crow pulled himself free from Gypsy's coil. "And you got knocked out by a desk!"

Mike looked around at the four robots surrounding him. "Are you guys okay?"

Tom thought that was an odd question. "We're fine, you're the one who's bleeding!"

"I am?" Mike looked down his body and his arms, trying to find the source of the blood.

"No, head North Mike." Tom instructed.

"Huh? Oh." Mike put his hand to his forehead and felt the wet, sticky blood above his eye. "Ouch!"

"Found it!" Tom giggled.

Mike slowly sat up, Gypsy helping him move. "Man, I might need stitches."

"Don't look at me, my hands don't work."

"It's okay. I think Joel could-" Mike suddenly remembered that Joel had been on his way back to Deck 14 when the meteor shower struck. "Where's Joel?"

"Uh..." Tom didn't know. "Not here."

"Beat me." Crow answered quickly.

Gypsy helped Mike up to his feet. "Maybe he's on his way back to us."

"Maybe." Mike wiped some of the blood from his forehead with his sleeve. "I'm going to go find him. Stay here until one of us says it's okay to leave."

"No way!" Crow defied. "I don't have to listen to you!"

"Fine," Mike gave in, only because he was more worried about finding Joel than babysitting the bots. "just stay out of my way."

Mike walked up to the large door that opens into the corridor, that granted access the ship's other decks. It was blocked by broken pipes, beams and wires. The bots watched as Mike cleared a pathway and forced the double doors open. "Gypsy, get down to engineering and try to get the power back on."

"Roger."

"Cambot, compile all available footage so we can locate and keep track of the damage."

Cambot let our a chirp to acknowledge Mike's order.

"Servo, stay here with Cambot. I don't want you to get stuck or trapped under any debris."

"No problem." Tom hovered up onto the desk and pushed the small bits of broken ceiling and wires aside as he sat down.

"Crow," Mike wasn't thrilled with the golden robot's attitude. "just stay quiet. Please."

"You're not the boss of me!"

"No, but I am bigger than you." Mike reminded the smaller bot as he finally forced the stuck door open.

"Good point..."

Gypsy led the way through the messy corridor, her light guiding Mike and Crow's path through the labyrinthine trail of broken and loose metal beams. The steep metal stairs leading down into engineering were separate from the junction that connected the corridor to Deck 14.

"Thanks Gypsy, we can take it from here." Mike reassured her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I can see well enough to find my way."

"Okay. If you need me..."

"I know. Thanks Gypsy."

Mike and Crow continued their way to Deck 14. Crow looked up at Mike and gave an unprovoked snark. "Kiss ass."

"Excuse me?" Mike was genuinely offended.

"You're not fooling me, I've got you pegged!"

"What're you talking about?"

"You being so nice to Gypsy and being buddies with Joel... You're only doing that so you can get back to Earth, and so we don't kill you and eat your liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti."

"What?!"

Crow put his claws over his mouth as he taunted Mike with the iconic Hannibal Lecter lisp.

"I thought you guys only watched BAD movies!" Mike remarked as he stepped over a large beam in the middle of the corridor.

"Joel programmed our memory banks; and everything he liked, or saw relevant, he included."

"Oh."

"Like you didn't already know that!" Crow went back to being suspicious of Mike. "You've spent so much time with Joel you know EVERYTHING about us! Don't you? DON'T YOU?!"

"Did Joel also program paranoia into your memory banks?"

"Who told you?!"

"You did..." Mike responded flatly as he saw that heavy amount of debris now blocking the doorway to Deck 14.

"Liar!"

"Crow, just calm down. Help me move these beams out of the way." He wrapped his hands on the heavy metal beams and pried them away from the doorframe.

"Fine." Crow's small frame was much stronger than it appeared. He was able to pull away metal beams, pipes and wires just as easily as Mike.

As soon as the doorway was cleared Mike proceeded to put his hands against the stuck double doors and push them apart. Crow slipped his claws between the slowly widening gap between the large metal doors and helped Mike force them apart. Without the power working on the ship, the doors weren't opening automatically anymore.

"Joel?" Mike called out. "Joel, are you in here?" His voice echoing ominously through the room.

Silence.

Crow popped his head through the door. "Maybe he's hiding."

"Maybe he's stuck." Mike offered the more logical alternative as he stepped past Crow onto the deck. "Joel, c'mon man, answer!"

Mike looked around the deck, which was just as messy and dark as the rest of the ship. The red emergency lights did very little to illuminate the expansive deck. The distinct smell of ozone from an electrical surge was intoxicating.

A loud whirring noise emanated from the bowels of the ship and the bright white lights powered up. "Gypsy got the power back on." Crow commented.

"Good." Mike scanned the deck for any sign of Joel. "Joel? Are you..." He trailed off when he saw Joel laying on his back under a bundle of downed wires, some still sparking while the others were dead. "Joel!" Mike ran toward his downed friend and slid on his knees to Joel's side. "Joel! Can you hear me?" Mike could see that Joel was breathing very quickly and shallowly. A painful, large burn mark on the left side of Joel's chest, on the lowest portion of his ribcage told the whole story. Electric shock. "Crow, move these wire so I can get Joel out of here!"

Crow ran over to the humans and stared at Joel for a moment in stunned awe. "Joel?"

"Crow, MOVE THE WIRES." Mike repeated authoritatively.

"Right!" Crow grabbed ahold of the wires and pulled them safely away from both Joel and Mike. "You're good."

Mike grabbed Joel under his arms and pulled the injured man away from the pile of debris. "Joel? Joel!" Mike patted Joel's face but didn't get a response. Mike could feel that Joel's skin was cool and clammy. "Joel?" Mike pressed his ear to Joel's chest and could hear his rapidly beating heart.

"Mike? Is he..." Crow sounded uncharacteristically worried.

"He's alive." He put his hand on Joel's rapidly rising and falling chest. "But in rough shape."

Mike was kneeling next Joel with his hand on Joel's chest. He could feel the rapid breathing and heartbeat taking place in Joel's chest. The electric shock had left a horribly painful burn in the lower left portion of Joel's ribcage. Charred, smoldering fabric from his teal jumpsuit and gray t-shirt outlined the severe wound beneath.

"Crow," Mike kept his voice even and calm. "go find Gypsy and tell her that Joel is hurt. I'll meet you both in the medical bay on Deck 8. Okay?"

Crow didn't want to leave Joel, and he still didn't trust Mike. "How're you going to get him into the medical bay by yourself?"

"The traditional way." Mike replied confidently. "Carry him."

"You?"

Mike slipped his hand under Joel's shoulders and carefully sat Joel upright. He wrapped Joel's limp arm around his own shoulders, and mindful of the horrific injury on Joel's ribs Mike wrapped his arm around Joel's waist, grabbing ahold of Joel's belt, and slowly stood up. "See?"

"Okay..." Crow commented timidly as he backed out of the opened area and through the door. "I'll go get Gypsy..."

Joel was still unconscious and weighed heavily against Mike.

"Okay Joel... Let's go at an even controlled pace, huh?"

Awkwardly Mike carried Joel across the deck and through the doorway. The corridor was still littered with cumbersome debris which would make walking with Joel at his side nearly impossible. "Okay... New idea."

Mike stooped down and let Joel's unconscious body fall across his broad shoulders. Using Joel's arm Mike pulled him up onto his shoulders while he wrapped his other arm around Joel's leg to hold him steady. With Joel now secured in a fireman's carry over his shoulders, Mike managed to step over the large metal beams and wires that wove across the floor. "Much better..."

"Gypsy! Gypsy!" Crow ran into engineering where Gypsy was starting to clean up the messy floor. "GYPSY!?"

"Crow? What's wrong?" She asked as she dropped the broom out from her mouth.

"It's J-Joel! Joel's hurt! Joel's hurt!"

"Joel's hurt?!" Gypsy's big jaw dropped. "Oh my stars! Where is he?!"

"M-Mike is taking him to the medical ward!"

"Let's move!" She rushed past Crow out of engineering. "Bonzai!"

It was an uncomfortable trek but Mike managed to carry Joel into the sickbay. Unfortunately the seldom used sickbay had also taken damage from the meteor shower. Monitors had been knocked over, bottles of medicine and boxes of bandages had been dumped all over the floor.

"Man, this will be a long clean up." Mike commented aloud, forgetting that Joel was unconscious. He could feel Joel's rapid breathing and heart pounding against his shoulders.

Mike cleared off the nearest exam table and laid gently laid Joel down. "Okay Joel, let's take a look..." Carefully Mike peeled back the tattered fabric and looked at the injury. "Ooooh, nasty." Mike grimaced. "Grandma was right, I don't have the stomach to be a doctor. Or the grades. Or desire."

Gypsy and Crow rushed into the medical bay and focused on Joel on the exam table. Crow scrambled over to the table and climbed up to look at Joel's face. "Joel? Joel, buddy, can you hear me?"

Joel didn't reply, he didn't even react to Crow clambering all over him.

Gypsy leaned over Mike's shoulder and looked at the injury. "Oh... Oh my word. Mike, can you help him?"

"I'll try Gypsy, but I'm not sure..." Mike noticed that Joel seemed unnaturally still. "Joel?" He patted Joel's face. "Joel!" Mike leaned down to listen for any breath sounds but didn't hear anything. He pressed his ear against Joel's chest. "He's not breathing..."

"WHAT?!" Crow was starting to panic.

"Move!" Mike pushed Crow aside as he tried to unzip Joel's jumpsuit. "The zipper's been fused together!" Thanks to the massive surge of electricity and heat the metal bindings were permanently sealed. Instead Mike tore the fabric apart from where the zipper started at the collar. After exposing the torn gray t-shit Mike put his hands on top of each other, lacing his fingers together and start compressing Joel's chest. "C'mon Joel... Don't quit on us..."

Crow and Gypsy stood back and watched in awe as Mike proceeded to perform C.P.R. on their dying friend, their 'father'.

Mike scanned the room looking for something, anything, that he could possibly use. "Gypsy, look for... a bag. That kind you use to make someone breathe..."

"Oh! An ambu-bag!" Gypsy figured out what Mike wanted. "We don't have one!"

"What? Great..." Mike knew had no choice now. He stopped compressing Joel's chest as he titled Joel's head back and pinched his nose. Taking two deep breaths Mike put his mouth over Joel's and delivered the life saving breaths. Joel's chest rose and fell even with Mike's breaths.

"Ahh! Yuck! You kissed him you freak!" Crow gagged inappropriately.

Mike ignored Crow and resumed the chest compressions. There was a sudden but distinct cracking sound. "Awe," Mike shook his head. "I fractured his ribs..."

Joel suddenly gasped and started coughing violently, his body wracking with spasms as he desperately tried to catch his long escaped breath.

Mike immediately stopped compressions and braced Joel's shoulders to help steady the injured human as he rolled Joel onto his right side. "Easy, easy Joel. We got you!"

Joel continued coughing for a few more minutes before he calmed and took in a few deep breaths.

"That's it, breathe." Mike sighed in relief as rolled Joel back onto his side. "Crow, it's okay. You can let go of his arm now."

"What? Oh..." Crow realized he had a death grip on Joel's arm. "Sorry."

Mike, a little out of breath, turned to Gypsy. "Can you find some bandages and rubbing alcohol? We need to clean up that burn before it gets infected."

"No problem." The loyal purple robot started going through the cabinets again and gathered as much gauze, bandages, patches and disinfectant as she could find.

"Crow?" Mike focused on the scared robot. "Why don't you go tell Servo and Cambot what's going on?"

"I'm not leaving Joel."

"Neither am I." Mike tried to smile. "He's my friend, too."

Crow climbed down from the table. "Alright, but I'll be back! Don't kiss him again!"

"Good." Mike commented as watched a gold blur bolt from sickbay. "You have a good family here Joel."

Gypsy came back to the table with all the supplies, she dropped them on the table next to Joel. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Mike patted Joel's arm. "This is going to hurt Joel, but you'd be more upset if I didn't clean out that burn."

Joel, completely unaware of how close he had come to death, or of the friends who were worried about him, remained unconscious on the table.

Mike took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He never thought he'd have to use C.P.R. on anyone, let alone a good friend. While he regained his composure he leaned over Joel and kept a close eye on his breathing, he was using his trembling arms to brace himself upright. Gypsy dropped a small, white, cardboard box full of bandages, gauze and a bottle of rubbing alcohol next to Mike's hand.

"Thanks Gypsy..." Mike whispered almost breathlessly to the purple robot.

With a light touch Mike resumed tearing open Joel's ruined teal jumpsuit to full expose the t-shirt and, subsequently, the burn beneath.

Gypsy saw the painful, devastating injury let out a low moan of empathy. "Poor Joel..."

Mike put his hand on the side of her face. "He'll be fine, Gypsy. I just need to patch him up."

"How?"

"Huh?"

"That's an electrical burn, it'll need to be cleaned up have the dead skin removed so he doesn't get an infection. And you'll need to find the second burn that acted as the electrical flow's exit route."

"Do you know how to do that?" Mike was surprised by how much Gypsy seemed to know about human medicine.

"The information was uploaded into my databanks just in case Joel got hurt. But I don't have hands, I can't do much for him."

"Right..." Mike had interesting thought. "Joel uploaded the information into your databanks, which means he had to either have an education in medicine or have a book that contained the information." His eyes widened. "Gypsy, was Joel ever a doctor, nurse, paramedic or in the military?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Good! Then that means the books he used are still on the ship..." He looked over the injury and mentally counted Joel's breaths. "Can you go to the ship's library and bring me back every book based on human biology, medicine or emergency first procedures?"

"Right away!"

Mike pulled up a small rolling chair and sat next to Joel's bed, he used his sleeve to wipe away his sweat and still trickling blood. "I'm glad you thought ahead Joel, otherwise... I don't even want to think about it!"

Joel didn't move, he remained blissfully unconscious and unaware of Mike's presence.

While Mike waited for Gypsy to return he realized that Joel was wearing a watch and a ring. Electricity coursing through metal will cause secondary burns and swelling.

Mike checked Joel's wrist and sure enough there was a burn under the watchband. Slowly Mike removed the watch, mindful of the burn and gently took the watch away from the tender skin without causing a second injury. He then slipped Joel's ring off his already swelling right middle finger.

"A-HA!" Crow walked back into the medical bay, with Tom Servo and Cambot, in time to see Mike gathering Joel's valuable. "Thief! Did you kiss him again, too, you sick FREAK?!"

Mike turned and looked at Crow with an arched eyebrow. "What?"

"You're stealing Joel's stuff! I caught you read handed!"

"No Crow," he tried to reassure the accusing and mistrusting robot. "I'm taking his watch and ring off so I can treat the burns underneath."

"LIAR!" Crow pointed at Mike angrily, unwilling to trust the blonde human.

"Crow, I don't have time to deal with you!" Mike put the watch and ring on a metal tray sitting on the nearby table. "I have to take care of Joel."

Gypsy barged in past the other bots and approached Mike. From her mouth she dropped six large, hardcover textbooks. "This is all I could find."

"This should be enough, thanks."

Mike started going through the books while the bots gathered around him and watched Joel. Tom sitting next to Joel's face on the table. "Joel? You okay?"

Crow climbed up onto the table and leaned down uncomfortably close to Joel's face. "He would be if Mike wasn't bothering him."

Mike had learned pretty quickly to ignore Crow's paranoid delusions and continued flipping through the pages of the first aid textbook. "Here we go..." Mike propped the book open on the desired page against the other books on the table. "This is what I need."

Crow glared at Mike. "More like what Joel needs!"

"Gypsy, can you find me some latex gloves?" Mike asked her calmly. "Servo, can you and Cambot please clean up some of this mess?" The mess wasn't all that bad or important, he just wanted to give the worried robots something to do. "And Crow, I need you to-"

"Forget it pal! I'm not going anywhere!" Crow practically growled.

"Good, because I need you to scan all the information in the book and talk me through the procedure."

"What?" Crow's attitude quickly changed. "How come?"

"I don't want to lose my place and accidentally overlook something important. Will you help?"

"Y-yeah... sure."

Gypsy dropped a small box containing disposable latex gloves on the table. Mike took the bottle of rubbing alcohol and found a small basin. He poured the alcohol over his hands to clean them off and sterilize his skin. After slipping on a pair of gloves he gave Gypsy one last order. "Gypsy, while we're in here we need you to get as much of the ship repaired as you can. Okay?"

"You can count on me!"

Mike took a breath and looked at Crow. "You ready?"

"Ready."

While Mike, with the aid of Crow, cleaned Joel's burn Servo and Cambot cleaned up the medical bay. Gypsy did everything else.

Mike tore open Joel's gray t-shirt and proceeded to clean the injury with a alcohol on a cotton ball. "Okay, wounds clean, now I have to remove the dead skin..."

"Blegh..." Crow grimaced and turned away. "Glad I don't have skin."

"Now..." Mike tilted his head to crack his sore neck. "What's next Crow?"

"Uh... After the wound is clean and the necrotized tissue has been extracted, apply a topical ointment or burn salve to the affected area."

"Right..."

Tom and Cambot had finished cleaning the room. The two bots were sitting idle behind Mike, watching in concerned silence as Mike did everything he could to help Joel pull through. "C'mon Joel..." Tom quietly encouraged his injured friend. "You can make it buddy."

Mike finished covering the burn with the appropriate salve. "Next?"

"Dress the wound in a sterilized bandage to prevent outside bacterial infection. Apply gauze if necessary."

"Considering the size and location, I'd say gauze is necessary."

Mike used a large, clean, white bandage to cover the burn and held it in place with medical adhesive. "Now, I'll hold Joel so you can wrap his ribs with the gauze, Crow."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. I can't hold Joel and wrap him up, and you're the only other one with hands."

"Okay..." Crow took the roll of gauze and removed the plastic packaging.

Moving carefully and deliberately Mike sat Joel upright and let the unconscious human weigh heavily against his arm. The tattered jumpsuit falling away, allowing Mike to completely remove the charred gray t-shirt. "Okay, go."

Kneeling behind Joel, Crow started wrapping the injury in the gauze. "Hey Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"You may want to clean out this burn, too?"

"Where?"

"Here. His right shoulder blade."

Mike craned his neck and saw where Crow was staring. "There's the exit wound Gypsy mentioned. Can you hold him?"

"I can try." Mike reached for the alcohol and cotton balls but couldn't reach.

Tom hovered up. "I got it Mike!" He pushed the small table up to Mike's hand.

"Thanks." Just as before Mike cleaned the wound and covered it in a bandage. "Okay... Crow, be sure to wrap his shoulder up too."

"Right."

Mike held Joel's body upright, allowing the heavy deadweight to leaned against his shoulders. While Mike waited for Crow to finish wrapping the injuries Mike watched Joel's chest rise and fall with his slower, but deeper breaths.

"Done."

"Good job, Crow." Mike laid Joel back down, his arm draping limply over his newly bandaged chest.

"Now... all I have to do is take care of his hands."

"That's it?" Crow asked incredulously. "Then... Joel will wake up?"

"No..." Mike confessed. "He needs to rest. He probably needs to be re-hydrated, too."

"How're you going to do that?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know how to start an I.V... which doesn't matter since there are no I.V.'s onboard anyway."

"Some help you are!" Crow scoffed as he climbed off the table.

"Yeah, I know..." Mike cleaned and wrapped Joel's hands, trying to ignore the sting of Crow's criticisms as he worked. Finished, he took off his gloves. "Look, he'll be more comfortable in his own quarters. I'm going to take him to his cabin so he can rest easier."

Mike bent down and wrapped Joel's arm around his shoulders, he support Joel's chest in one arm and gathered Joel's legs with his other arm. Mike lifted Joel off the table and proceeded to carry the unconscious man 'bridal style' out of the medical bay and down the cleaned up corridor.

Crow looked at Tom. "See? Mike kissed Joel and now the deranged lunatic is carrying him over the threshold!"

Mike carried Joel into Joel's private cabin and carefully laid the injured Gizmocrat down on the bunk. Mike himself was exhausted. Between the blow to the head during the meteor shower and the physical exertion he had to use clearing pathways through the debris laden ship, giving Joel C.P.R. and then carrying Joel across the ship, Mike's entire body was worn out.

Joel remained unconscious throughout the whole ordeal. After having the electrical burn on his ribs, wrist and finger cleaned and wrapped up, Joel was resting relatively well. When he awakens he'll feel the searing pain in his skin and the constant ache from the fractures in his ribs.

Pulling a chair up next to Joel's bunk Mike sat down and took a moment to rest himself. "Okay Joel, let's make a deal. You pull through and I'll take care of the load-pan bay for the next six months, okay?"

There was a soft knock at the closed doors. "Mike?" Gypsy asked politely. "May I come in?"

"Yeah Gypsy, come in." Mike answered her with a soft yawn in his voice.

"How is he?" Gypsy leaned over Joel on his bunk.

"He's holding his own." Mike rubbed his tired eyes and accidentally touched the cut above his brow in the process. "Ouch!"

Gypsy turned and looked at Mike. "Oh, Mike, you need a band-aid."

"Nah, it'll be okay."

"Nope. I insist." She headed toward the door. "I'll be back."

Crow and Tom Servo brushed past Gypsy as she exited through the doorway. The two brotherly bots rushed over to Joel's bunk and looked at their injured friend, their injured 'father'.

Tom hovered up and sat on the end of the bunk. "Joel? You awake yet?"

Mike answered on Joel's behalf. "No, he won't be awake for awhile Servo."

"Is he...?"

"No! He's alive. Just hurt."

Crow pulled himself up onto the bunk and stared at Joel's face intently. "You didn't kiss him again, did ya' Mike?"

"No Crow, and never kissed him to begin with!"

"Liar!" Crow turned and glared at Mike. "I saw you!"

"That wasn't a kiss, Crow. I would never kiss Joel! It was mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

"You say mouth-to-mouth, I say kiss!" Crow was adamant and in the mood to argue.

Tom hovered up and put himself between Crow and Mike. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, time-out! First of all, Crow," Tom looked the bitter gold robot right in his yellow ping-pong ball eyes. "if Mike says he gave Joel mouth-to-mouth, I believe him."

Crow looked away from Mike and growled under his breath.

"And Mike," Tom turned and looked at the tired human. "what the hell is 'mouth-to-mouth resuscitation'?"

Mike sighed and laughed a little. "It's when you..." Mike was struggling to find a reasonable explanation without unintentionally placating Crow's 'kiss' accusation. "It's when you breathe for someone else who is incapable of breathing on their own."

"Wait..." Tom turned and looked at Joel's face. "Joel stopped breathing?!"

"Only for a minute!" Mike calmed the upset robot. "He's fine now."

"And..." Tom turned back to Mike. "to get Joel to breathe again, you had to breathe for him... how?"

"Well, I, uh..."

"Oh. My. Lord." Tom looked at Crow who was protectively kneeling next to Joel's shoulder. "Mike. KISSED. Joel!"

Mike felt utterly defeated. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back in the chair. "No... I didn't..."

Gypsy returned to Joel's cabin with a small first aid kit in her mouth. She dropped the box on Mike's lap. "Here you go, I put some band-aids and some aspirin inside for you."

"Thanks..." Mike absentmindedly opened the kit and retrieved the aspirin and gratefully popped the pain reducing pills in his mouth.

Gypsy realized that Mike wasn't going to put anything on the cut above his eye so she proceeded to play nurse and take care of the injury for him.

Crow and Tom stayed on Joel's bunk and patiently watched as their 'father' proceeded to sleep. His bandaged chest slowly rising and falling with his deep, pained breaths.

"There." Gypsy finished bandaging Mike's head. "All done."

Mike patted Gypsy's nose affectionately. "Thanks girl. How bad was the ship damaged during the meteor shower?"

"Well, uh..." Gypsy looked back toward Joel.

"He'll be okay." Mike soothed. "Right now we need to worry about the ship. How bad?"

"The hull was breeched in engineering but emergency protocols sealed it off to keep the oxygen from being depleted."

"And?"

The heat shields took heavy damage but the back-up shields are holding."

"For now?" Mike asked.

"For now."

"Think you can repair the heat shields?"

"Yup. I'll get on it."

"Thanks again Gypsy. We'll keep an eye on Joel."

The purple robot reluctantly left the cabin, and her injured father.

Mike was fighting to stay awake. With Joel injured and Gypsy outside the ship repairing the damage, Mike was the one left in charge. He was responsible for the well being of Crow and Tom Servo.

"Look, why don't you two go through the ship and clean up what you can? I'll clean up everything else later."

"No way." Crow shook his head. "I'm not leaving Sleep Beauty here alone with you 'Prince Charming'!"

"Crow..." Mike was trying keep his cool, but his head was throbbing. "for the last time, it wasn't a kiss, I performing C.P.R."

Servo was intrigued. "What's C.P.R.?"

"Cardio. Pulmonary. Resuscitation." Mike answered sleepily. "You use your hands to compress a person's chest when their heart stops and you use mouth-to-mouth to get the person to breathe again."

"So Joel stopped breathing AND his heart stopped beating?" Servo sounded really upset. "What else happened to Joel?! Tell me!"

"Easy!" Mike grabbed ahold of the panicking robot. "Joel was electrocuted and electricity does some pretty serious damage to the human body. But he's breathing, his heart's beating and now he's resting. Everything will be okay..." It was at this point Mike didn't know who he was trying to convince; Servo or himself?

Crow was still suspicious of Mike. "I don't buy it. Seems awfully convenient that Mike already knew C.P.R. before Joel was hurt."

Tom didn't follow Crow's reasoning. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it: Mike worked as a TEMP, not a medic! So why would he know such a specific and useful technique?"

"Yeah Mike!" Tom was now on Crow's side and hovered out of Mike's grip. "Why do you know C.P.R.?"

"My grandma insisted I learn when I was fourteen."

"Uh, why?"

"My kid cousin almost drowned one summer. She went out too far in the lake and went under."

"Oh... Did she... get better?"

"Yeah. A soldier and his family were vacationing at the same lake, he was able to revive my cousin after pulling her out of the water."

Crow looked away from Mike and back to Joel, feeling a little guilty for bringing up a painful memory from Mike's past.

Tom wanted to know more. "So you learned C.P.R. because your cousin almost drowned?"

"That, and because my grandma was worried that it could happen again, so I took a class and learned how to perform C.P.R. to help put her at ease." Mike looked at Joel's pale face. "Never had to use it before. Never wanted to use it! But I'm glad I knew what to do, Joel's a good guy."

"He's the BEST." Crow snarked in a nasty tone. "Never forget it!"

"I won't." Mike replied honestly. "Now, please, go help Gypsy clean up the ship. I'll stay with Joel."

Crow shook his head. "Nope!"

Tom however pushed Crow off the bunk onto the floor. "Crow, stop being such a jerk! Joel will be fine!"

Crow stood up and grabbed Tom's hand. "You're going to help me!" He pulled Tom off the bunk and dragged the red robot out of the cabin by his inarticulate little, white hand.

As soon as the door closed behind the stubbornly protective robots Mike leaned forward and put his face in his hands. "My head is KILLING me..." Peeking through his fingers he looked back at Joel. The ruined, charred and tattered teal jumpsuit was still covering Joel's legs. "Let's get you more comfortable, then I can sleep, too."

Mike untied Joel's black converse shoes and tossed them casually over his shoulder onto the floor behind him. "This isn't what it looks like, I swear." After that he grabbed ahold of the jumpsuit's legs and pulled them from Joel's body. "Oh good, you're wearing jeans, too! Good thing space is so cold, otherwise this would be very awkward for both of us." He commented aloud.

An extra blanket, a very thick, blue quilt, was draped over the end of the bunk. Mike pulled it up and over Joel's injured body, hoping that it'd be enough to keep Joel warm without making him sweat. Afterward Mike plopped back down in the chair and continued to watch over Joel as he rested.

"Man, if Crow, or even Servo saw this, they'd NEVER leave it alone..."

With the ship's repairs well underway and the interior mess being cleaned up by the bots, both Joel and Mike were free to rest without worry. Mike had no sense of time as he had unintentionally drifted off to sleep while watching over Joel. He was slowly awakened by a gentle pressure on his arm. Slowly he opened his eyes, his lingering headache caused blinding pain even in the dim light.

"Ow..." Mike unintentionally whined as he pressed the palm of his hand against the bandaged cut over his eye.

"Mike? You awake?" Gypsy sounded startled and yet relieved.

"Yeah..." Mike's voice was low and quiet.

"Thank goodness, I've been trying to wake you up for nine hours!"

"Nine... hours?" Though it hurt immensely Mike opened his eyes fully and looked at the purple robot hovering over him. It was then Mike realized that he had a second chair propping his legs up off the floor and a gray blanket draped over him, covering his legs up to his stomach. "What happened?" Joel was still unconscious in his bunk, his face was still pale and he didn't move at all despite the conversation taking place around him. "How's Joel?"

"He's fine." Gypsy replied sternly. "But you have a concussion."

"A concussion?" Mike didn't doubt it, his head was throbbing despite the aspirin and sleep. "How do you know?"

"I scanned your skull when I couldn't wake you up. You're hurt, too. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I... I didn't know. I get headaches all the time, sometimes migraines. I just figured... you know."

"Uh-huh."

"How's the ship? Where are Servo and Crow?"

"The ship's fine. All damage located and repaired. Servo and Crow are asleep. It's almost 4am... at least it is on the East Coast."

Mike was beginning to fade out, his eyes glazing over and his body feeling heavy.

"Mike? You still with me?"

"Yeah..."

"Sleep." She shook her head sympathetically. "I'll keep an eye on Joel, and I'll keep an eye on you. Everything will be okay."

"You need to sleep, too." Mike responded as he slowly drifted off into the blissful darkness of sleep.

"Not as much as you." Gypsy pulled the blanket up higher to cover Mike's chest. She saw the dried blood on the collar of his green jumpsuit. "Yuck. As soon as you wake up you're putting on a clean jumpsuit, mister!"

Mike spent the next six hours in a fitful sleep. His dreams, though one can never say what constitutes a 'normal' dream, were very odd. In one moment he was back on Earth with his friends at his family home, the next he was flying uncontrollably into the air, past the clouds, through the atmosphere, to the stars and into the Satellite of Love already orbiting the Earth.

Anxiety, dread, isolation... each horrible feeling weighed against his heart even as he slept.

Coughing brought him back to the pain of waking reality. "Ouch..." He opened his eyes and lifted his head.

Joel was coughing in his sleep, his breathing was shallow and his coughs seemed pained.

"Joel?" Slowly Mike leaned over off his chair and toward the bunk. "Ow... My head. Joel, you awake?"

Joel started breathing deeply and rapidly, the pain in his chest was becoming more abundant as he regained consciousness. His hand gripping at his chest.

"Easy!" Mike put his hands on Joel's shoulders, he noticed that Joel's skin seemed unnaturally hot. "You're going to be okay."

Despite the pain and the still healing, clearly painful injuries Mike's words seemed to be enough to calm Joel.

Mike carefully lifted the bandages from Joel's wrist and chest. "Aw man, I think these bandages were on too long, they need to be changed." Joel's injuries looked infected.

Gypsy returned to Joel's cabin and was alarmed to see Mike moving around. "Mike, you need to rest!"

"Gypsy, Joel's sick! His bandages need to be replaced, he already has a fever."

"Fever! Uh-oh... infection."

"Yeah..." Mike put his hand to his head as he suddenly felt dizzy and his legs began trembling.

"Mike?" Gypsy put her head under his arm. "You okay?"

"I'm fine..." Mike lied with a slur. "Just... need..."

"To rest." Gypsy finished the sentence for him as she led him back to his chair. "I'll take care of him."

Mike didn't try to resist Gypsy or even argue. He felt terrible and weak. From his chair he watched as Gypsy, despite having no hands, easily removed the heavy gauze wrapping Joel's injuries, cleaned the wounds beneath and covered each painful wound with a clean fresh bandage.

"There. Now, let's check your bandage." Gypsy turned to Mike.

"I'm... fine." Mike didn't want to admit how horrible he felt and he wasn't in the mood to have someone fussing over him.

"I insist." Gypsy wouldn't back down. Just as easily as she tended to Joel, Gypsy took care of Mike's bandage and wound. "You have a fever too."

"I do?" Mike looked up at the purple robot leaning over him.

"I'll get some ice for you two. Please try and sleep."

"What about Joel?"

"I gave him some medicine to ease the pain. He should be able to rest easily."

"Medicine? How did you... wait! Never mind, I don't want to know..." He shut his eyes and tried to relax.

Gypsy pulled the blanket up over Mike's chest again. "I'll be back."

"We'll be here..." Mike instinctively replied.

Alone again with Joel, Mike glanced over at his sleeping roommate.

"Joel, you have no idea how lucky you are. That Gypsy is taking better care of me than my own mother..." Mike sighed and closed his eyes. "Too bad Servo and Crow don't like me very much. I bet we could all be good friends."

From the bunk Mike heard a whispered, but distinct reply. "We already are..."

Crow and Tom Servo were sitting on the bridge, bored. Without Joel or even Mike to keep them company the bots were utterly bored out of their metallic little minds.

Crow smacked Tom with his claw. "You're it!"

"You're it!" Tom leaned over and swung his arm to hit Crow back.

"You're it."

"You're it."

"You're it, NOT BACKSIES!"

"Hey! No fair!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

Gypsy appeared on the bridge and eyed Crow and Tom suspiciously. "What are you two doing?"

"Playing tag!"

"And Crow's cheating!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am- wait, how do you cheat at tag?"

"Your arms work and mine don't!"

"Oh yeah. Ha ha!"

"Jerk!"

"Dickweed!"

Gypsy put herself between her bickering brothers. "Knock it off! Both of you!"

"You're not the boss of us!" Crow challenged.

"Yeah!"

Gypsy glared at her defiant siblings. "Until Joel and Mike get better I'm in charge!"

Tom didn't like the sound of that. "Wait, when did Mike get hurt?"

"During the meteor shower. He didn't know it though."

Crow scoffed at the idea. "He's faking!"

"Is not." Gypsy defended quickly. "I scanned his skull and found the concussion myself!"

"Ouch..." Tom commented. "So... how long until their up and at 'em again?"

Gypsy shook her head. "Don't know. Their both weak and sick. It might be a whole week."

"No way!" Crow protested. "I'm not listening to you for a whole week!" He stomped off the bridge angrily. "I'm going to see for myself!"

Tom shook his head. "He can be so damn stubborn!"

"Tell me about it!"

Crow made his way into Joel's cabin and stared at his injured, sleeping creator. Though he was unable to feel pain Crow was sympathetic toward Joel.

"Hm..." Crow quietly studied Joel's sleeping form. "Guess I should be grateful that Mike helped you." He turned and looked at Mike sleeping in the chair next to Joel's bunk. "Mike doesn't look any better than you do, Joel."

Feeling a little lonely but not wanting to spend time with either Tom or Gypsy, Crow climbed up onto Joel's bunk and laid down next to his creator. "You better wake up soon Joel, the ship's boring when you're not around."

Joel's hand reached up and patted Crow's beak. "I'm awake buddy."

"Joel?" Crow sat up and stared at Joel's pale face, his eyes still shut. "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to know you're grateful for Mike saving me."

"Oh... you heard that, huh?"

"Uh-huh."

"You're not going to tell him what I said, are you?"

"No." Joel opened his eyes. "But you should."

"What? Why?"

"Crow, your my friend and I love you, but sometimes you can be so cruel. Mike is a very good guy who, just like me, got caught in a bad situation. You've been pretty cold toward him and there's no reason to be."

"Well..." Crow felt a twinge of guilt. "it's just... he's not YOU, Joel."

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"You created me and Servo and Gypsy and Cambot, so I know you won't hurt us or, you know... do anything bad to us."

"Neither would Mike."

"How do you know?"

"Because, unlike you my gilded conspiracy nut, I've actually taken the time to get to know him. He's harmless. And as you've pointed out, capable of saving a life."

"But..."

"Crow, you don't have to be his new best friend or anything like that, but you should make an effort to be a buddy."

"Maybe..."

Joel winced in pain and put his hand to his injured ribs. "Thank you."

Crow looked over at Mike again and studied Mike's pale face. "What's his problem again? Concussion?"

"Yeah..."

"Weird. I thought you weren't supposed to sleep with a concussion."

"That's an urban legend. Resting is the best thing for any injury."

"Oh. So I don't have to wake him up?"

"No."

"Can I do it just for kicks?"

"NO."

"Can I at least stick his hand in warm water?"

Joel started laughing. "No!"

"Please?"

"No."

"I thought it'd be more fun with you awake again..."

"I'm fun. But only when I'm not hurt."

Crow looked down at Joel. "Oh, right..."

"Crow?"

"Yes?"

"Could you please be quiet so we can rest? I love having you around but I need to sleep some more."

"Fine..." Crow crawled off the bed and walked past Mike. He paused for a moment and climbed up on the edge of Mike's chair. Whispering Crow thanked Mike. "You're alright, thanks for helping Joel."

"You're welcome."

"Gah!" Crow fell off the chair. "Mike! How long were you awake?"

"Long enough to know you wanted to stick my hand in warm water and that you think I'm alright. You're alright too!"

"Shut up! I didn't..."

Joel defended Mike. "Did too!"

"Oh yeah? Well... Mike kissed you!"

Mike blushed. "It wasn't a kiss."

Joel smirked. "Crow? How do you know I didn't kiss him?"

"You... what? BLEGH!" Crow scrambled out of the room and into the corridor.

Joel started laughing to himself. "I couldn't resist."

Mike laughed a little too. "Now that he's freaked out, do you think he'll stop bringing it up?"

"Not a chance."

"Glad to see you awake."

"Glad to be awake."

"I hate to ask, but... the escape pod?"

"Destroyed." Joel answered flatly. "The meteor shower destroyed the heatshield before it struck the fuse box on Deck 14."

"Can it be repaired?"

"Doubt it, but we'll try anyway."

Mike smiled. "Does anything ever get you down?"

"Bad movies. And clowns."

"Wow. Me too." Mike was feeling tired again. "That and headaches."

"You should rest. You've already done so much for me and the rest of the ship."

"It's not a big deal."

"Actually, it is. You saved my life. I don't think the bots would've been able to do what you did and I wouldn't be here right now. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me."

"You're right, I don't. But I want to."

"Well, you're welcome. I guess."

"Goodnight, Mike."

"Goodnight, Joel."

**-The End**


End file.
